Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian Is Looking to Acquire TikTok

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is looking to acquire TikTok to bring the controversial social media app “onchain,” according to a message on Tuesday.

Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, is aiming to acquire the U.S. part of TikTok and bring the video-sharing app "onchain," he announced on X, formerly Twitter.

Ohanian is joining the previously announced bid from Frank McCourt, which is planning to integrate the Frequency blockchain and is focused on cryptocurrency.

The U.S. government is forcing TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to either sell its U.S. assets or shut down the app in the country.

"Excited to share some HUGE news for the digital world. I’m officially one of the people trying to buy TikTok U.S. — and bring it on-chain," Ohanian wrote. "TikTok has been a game-changer for creators, and its future should be built by them. Users should own their data. Creators should own their audience. Period."

McCourt, the billionaire founder of luxury property developer Groupe McCourt and owner of Ligue 1 football club Stade Brest, is planning to use his own Frequency blockchain to relaunch the U.S. part of TikTok. The new version of the app will be called "Project Liberty."

"We are thrilled to have Alexis join Project Liberty in its journey to bring People's Bid to life. Alexis is not only a technology visionary but also a passionate advocate for a fairer digital landscape," McCourt said.

"His leadership in guiding new forms of community engagement will be invaluable as we build the future of social media with Frequency, a decentralized social media protocol designed to give users fundamental control over their online experience."

According to a report by The Information, Ohanian will be helping to promote the Project Liberty offer, which is being called "The People's Bid" because of plans to let users control their data using blockchain technology.

"Shark Tank" investor and crypto advocate Kevin O’Leary is also part of the Project Liberty offering.

Frequency, which stands for Future, Relevant, Engaging, Nuclear, Clean and Unstoppable, uses a unique pricing model to facilitate high-volume social interactions on the blockchain and a consensus mechanism to make different social applications built on the platform interoperable.

It is a decentralized, blockchain-based platform created by Project Liberty, designed to enhance transparency, accountability and data ownership. It empowers creators to own their relationships with their audiences while enabling businesses to build deeper connections with their customers. If it serves as the underlying technology for the redesigned TikTok, Frequency could be seen to be prioritizing privacy, security and digital independence as core principles rather than optional features.

"We're setting a new standard for what's possible in digital communities. A TikTok for the people, by the people. Let's see if we can pull this off."

Earlier this year, Ohanian launched a $680 million venture fund to invest in Web3 startups. The fund, called Seven Seven Six, is part of a broader effort by the former Reddit executive to invest in new technologies and businesses that are transforming the world.

Ohanian's crypto initiatives

This is not the first time Ohanian, who co-founded Reddit in 2005 with Steve Huffman, has sought to integrate blockchain tools into social media.

In May 2020, Reddit introduced "Community Points," an Ethereum-based token system designed to reward users for their contributions to specific subreddits like r/Cryptocurrency. These community tokens were initially launched on Ethereum’s Rinkeby testnet before being migrated to the Arbitrum Nova Layer 2. The site also launched a series of collectible NFT avatars on Polygon.

Last year, Reddit disclosed that it holds several cryptocurrencies, including Polygon’s MATIC token, ether and bitcoin, on its balance sheet. Meanwhile, Ohanian's venture firm, Seven Seven Six, has raised multiple multi-million funds specifically to invest in crypto tokens and startups.

In late 2021, Ohanion reportedly looked to build a decentralized social media network on Solana. It's unclear what happened to that plan, which involved the now incarcerated founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, who also planned to build a fiat-to-crypto payment system for Reddit.

Ohanian has also been a noted crypto advocate in his personal life. He reportedly purchased 50,000 ETH at around $0.30 per token in 2014, used crypto to buy his wife — tennis star Serena Williams — a $3 million, 17-carat diamond engagement ring and has sported various NFTs like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes.

In previous interviews, Ohanian has mentioned his belief in using crypto as a hedge against oppressive systems stems from his family history with the Armenian genocide.

Ohanian sold Reddit to Conde Nast in 2006 and returned to the firm in 2014 as executive chair. He resigned from the board in 2020. He has